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I was thinking of taking this at the end of year as I thought it would be a good idea as I'm going to Japan next year. But i am slightly put off by only 51% of the people who participated in the test last year passed (level 4). So i was wondering if anyone here has taken it before?

i made a topic once, not about JLPT but for general, you can find it in my sig.
IMHO, the most difficult part of it is Kanjis, i started from different perspectives but each one of them can be read in different types and have different meanings and i'm so lost about it.

In my honest opinion people should skip level 4 and just go for level 3 instead, because with level 4 you really don't know much about the Japanese language.
This is the criteria for level 4:
"The examinee has mastered the basic elements of grammar, knows around 100 Kanji and 800 words, and has the ability to engage in simple conversation and to read and write short, simple sentences. This level is normally reached after studying Japanese for around 150 hours and after completion of the first half of an elementary course."
I've decided to skip level 4, study for another year and go for level 3. Then again, that's my choice. I'm sure many people prefer to take things step by step.
This is the criteria for level 3, btw:
The examinee has mastered grammar to a limited level, knows around 300 Kanji and 1,500 words, and has the ability to take part in everyday conversation and to read and write simple sentences. This level is normally reached after studying Japanese for around 300 hours and after completion of an elementary course.

In my honest opinion people should skip level 4 and just go for level 3 instead, because with level 4 you really don't know much about the Japanese language.
This is the criteria for level 4:
"The examinee has mastered the basic elements of grammar, knows around 100 Kanji and 800 words, and has the ability to engage in simple conversation and to read and write short, simple sentences. This level is normally reached after studying Japanese for around 150 hours and after completion of the first half of an elementary course."
I've decided to skip level 4, study for another year and go for level 3. Then again, that's my choice. I'm sure many people prefer to take things step by step.
This is the criteria for level 3, btw:
The examinee has mastered grammar to a limited level, knows around 300 Kanji and 1,500 words, and has the ability to take part in everyday conversation and to read and write simple sentences. This level is normally reached after studying Japanese for around 300 hours and after completion of an elementary course.

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so what level am i if ive been learning japanese for 9 years?
its a schoo course so 9months everyday for about 4 hours

4 is worthless. 3 is OK for beginners, but you pretty much need 1 to get a job here. That said, the JLPT is not much use unless you are trying to show that you know Japanese, either for a job or graduate school, unless you just want to study to see how it goes (the JLPT prep material makes good study guides).

iffy, it depends on what you know. I've known people who have studied for years and don't know more than 20 kanji.

I've used a few different textbooks, but for beginners I whole heartedly recommend Genki 1 & 2, published by the Japan Times, which I used at my university, Emory, and Kansai Gaidai the year I spent there. Going through those, with a native speaker, you can probably take 3 easily by the end of book 1, or the middle of book 2 at the latest. It has a really good section on kanji as well. By the end of the two books, you learn a lot of the most commonly used kanji.

For intermediate I used Kansai Gaidai's Level 4 conversation book and I don't know a good equivalent for it. For advanced, the Japan Times' From Intermediate to Advanced Japanese is a really awesome textbook, but you need a teacher to get much use out of it.